The focus of my research is to determine the timing of ice advance and retreat and the past extents of Quelccaya Ice Cap in the Peruvian Andes. It is the largest tropical ice mass in the world and is a sensitive indicator of climate change. Therefore, my goal is to build a record of the past variations in ice cap size that goes back ~11,600 years, encompassing the end of the last glacial period up to present day.

I use Beryllium-10 (10Be) surface exposure dating of boulders on moraines to determine the timing of ice retreat. I also use lake sediment cores from lakes that receive glacial melt and sediment to obtain continuous records of glacial fluctuations. These records of ice cap size and change through time indicate how glaciers have responded to climate. They also help determine past climate variability in the tropics.